NESTING HABITS OF THE KINGFISHER. £55 



XXVII. 



ON THE NESTING HABITS OF THE KING- 

 FISHER (ALCEDO ISPIDA, L.). 



BY ANDREW SCOBIE. 



[Read 13tb August, 1889.] 



It is asserted by some writers that the Kingfisher^ 

 for the purpose of nesting, selects the hole of some 

 burrowing Mammalia. For the last ten years I 

 have paid particular attention to the habitat of this 

 bird, and during that period have known eight nests. 

 In all the eight instances the Kingfisher dug out 

 its own burrow, the depth of which ranged from 

 24^ to 32J inches, and the time taken for excavation 

 was from 22 to 24 days. 



It has also been said that the Kingfisher deposits 

 its eggs on the bones of decayed fish. In all the 

 eight instances referred to I found that the birds 

 laid their eggs on the bare sand. During the season 

 of incubation the male supplies the female with food, 

 and after a time the lower part of the burrow gets- 

 well-filled with disgorged bones. After the young 

 Kingfishers are four days old, they seem never to 

 lie down, but stand erect with their bills pointed 

 to the entrance of the hole. I have known seven 

 young birds consume no less than eight dozen middle- 

 sized minnows per day. 



After the parent birds had been shot, I have had 

 their eggs hatched in a robin's nest. The young birds 

 are very easily reared in confinement. 



In the moulting season the Kingfishers feed largely 

 on moths and other insects, and during the last eight. 

 years I have watched them hawking moths, etc, in. 

 the autumn evenings. 



